


The Ballad of a Beating Heart

by inklo



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Fluff, I'd say it's pretty soft, Maggie is so far gone, They're so in love guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-18
Updated: 2018-02-18
Packaged: 2019-03-20 23:08:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13727952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inklo/pseuds/inklo
Summary: Maggie has heard many a heartbeat before, of course, but they never rang out to her as this one does know. She has felt Alex’s time and time again, hammering against hers, in moments of passion, and that may be her favorite feeling – warm body to warm body, chest to chest, racing heart to racing heart. But she has never heard it like this, at rest, thumping along at this leisurely pace. She doesn’t know exactly why, but Maggie adores it. She cannot imagine ever tiring of this song, the ballad of Alex Danvers' beating heart.





	The Ballad of a Beating Heart

Last winter, National City had what newscasters called the city’s “biggest snowstorm in 50 years”. The entire city seemed to have shut down, which Maggie found ridiculous, having walked to her Nebraska school in more of the icy, white fluff than that which had virtually sent the city into hibernation. Alex, on the other hand, leaned into it, having gone to the market the night before to pick up enough food for weeks, as though they would be quarantined in that apartment for the next month. Maggie laughed and mocked of course, but she loved Alex’s precaution. It was just like her, always prepared for whatever life dared to toss her way.

They didn’t leave the apartment for three days. They watched bad horror flicks and Maggie whipped up renditions of their favorite snow day comfort foods; they sat on the balcony, wrapped in throws and each other, to watch the snow fall into blankets on the empty streets; they each opened a Christmas present early.

Honestly, they spent much of the time savoring the usually unattainable ability to rest, eyes drifting shut as the television lent the room a faint, hazy glow; breathing slower, deeper in front of the balcony window, left open, that Maggie was sure a certain peppy superhero closed sometime in the night to save them both from colds.

Every time, they would end up the same, curled into each other, Maggie’s arm draped over her girlfriend’s stomach, Alex’s long leg thrown over Maggie’s thighs, her head tucked just so, warm body to warm body, chest to chest, heart to heart.

This was the first time Maggie really noticed it. They have fallen asleep on the couch sometime that afternoon while binging the latest season of American Crime. As afternoon turned to evening, the glow of the television screen became a harsh light against the darkness of the apartment, waking the sleeping detective. When she shifts to grab the remote and turn the console off, she hears Alex.

In this position, her ear is pressed against her girlfriend’s chest, against a slow pulsing, a steady beat. And Maggie has heard many a heartbeat before, of course, but they never rang out to her as this one does know. She has felt Alex’s time and time again, hammering against hers, in moments of passion, and that may be her favorite feeling – warm body to warm body, chest to chest, racing heart to racing heart. But she has never heard it like this, at rest, thumping along at this leisurely pace. She doesn’t know exactly why, but Maggie adores it. She cannot imagine she will ever tire of this song, the ballad of Alex Danver’s beating heart.

Maggie never wants to leave this spot, curled into Alex’s chest. That evening, with the snow drifting over the hushed city, she doesn’t have to.

 .........

After that afternoon on the couch, Maggie makes a habit of tuning in to Alex’s heartbeat whenever she has the chance. It brings her a simple joy; Maggie found a sort of thrill in the fact that she got to bear witness to this unencumbered, at-ease Alex Danvers.

Tonight, she finds no thrill in the pounding tempo of her love’s hammering heart. They had both been forced violently into the harsh reality of their love story – it could end at any moment. These lives they led, battling beings from beyond the stars and saving lives on city streets, were not for the faint of heart. Maggie already knew Alex’s was strong, but tonight, after lifting her exhausted body off the grimy floor of that abandoned warehouse, tucking stray strands of wet hair out of her face, and telling each other things they should have said ages ago, Maggie truly understands the ferocity with which Alex’s heart beats.

But, right now, she aches for it to slow down.

It hadn’t been as difficult as Maggie thought it would to get Alex to fall asleep. The detective underestimated the exhaustion that had overcome the agent in those sixteen hours she was stuck in the tank. Maggie is tired, too, bone-tired, but ventures to sleep disappeared the moment she closed her eyes and found the vision of Alex suspended and still, too still, in that vat of water. The quiet doesn’t help either. She can only hear the desperation singeing Alex’s voice over the crackling interface of that laptop, and it devastates her to know Alex thought that was the end, her end. So Maggie tries not to close her eyes; she tries to occupy her mind with less catastrophic thoughts.

When the detective seems to be on the brink of rest a few hours into the night, that morbid vision appears so vivid in her imagination that she jerks up from her spot on the bed. She is gasping in short, quick breaths before she feels a gentle hand on her back.

“Maggie, what’s wrong?” Alex asks as she pushes herself up to meet her girlfriend, a worried expression plastered over her face.

Maggie internally kicks herself for waking her, embarrassed for making a scene.

“Nothing. It-it’s nothing,” she waves Alex off of her. “Just go back to sleep, babe.”

But, Alex knows Maggie well enough to recognize the way her eyes can’t seem to meet Alex’s and her hands wring each other repeatedly. When she tilts her head, she sees the look of worry and fear prominent in Maggie’s wide eyes.

“Maggie,” Alex sighs, drawing her face into her hands, bringing Maggie’s downtrodden eyes up to meet hers. “I’m okay. We’re safe. There’s nothing to worry about.”

Maggie just nods her head, wishing with everything in her that she could believe Alex. She knows such wishes won’t come true, not tonight at least. But, she really just wants to Alex to go back to getting some rest, so she nods.

“Hey,” Alex tells her, seeing the doubt written all over her face. “I know for a fact that a certain blonde superhero and Green Martian are stationed just outside this apartment building right now, on the off chance anything happens.” Maggie just lets Alex console her, able to tell it also helps her girlfriend ease her own nerves. Alex pours all the sincerity she can into the following words, “Listen to me, we’re safe.”

So, Maggie does. She lets Alex pull her into her side and lay them both back down. And as the agent falls back into a deep slumber, Maggie lays her head on Alex’s chest and listens for that heartbeat. She knows this isn’t at all what Alex meant, but it calms her.

When images of still bodies and sounds of cracking voices threaten her thoughts, Alex’s heart and its siren song pull her back from these flights of terror. It grounds her. Maggie listens to this lullaby the entire night, counting every beat, every victorious sign of life, like sheep until she lets sleep take her.

......... 

This morning, like most mornings, Maggie wakes first, smiling softly into Alex’s chest at the fact that the first sound she hears in the morning is the familiar thump of her heart. It is early, even for Maggie, so she keeps her movements to a minimum. She doesn’t want to wake Alex. She doesn’t want this moment to end, even though she knows she will hear it every day for the rest of their lives.

She bides the time, waiting for Alex to wake, by trying to bring her own heart in sync with Alex’s, putting all that meditation from yoga to good use. After a few minutes, when they finally matched, Maggie smiles at her victory. She then laughs at her silliness, sending her heart rate back up. Maggie cannot believe she has the audacity to tease Alex for being a nerd; here she lays, fawning over the mechanical motions of the cardiovascular system.

She tilts her head when Alex stirs, probably because of her ridiculous antics, and is amazed by how struck she still is by this woman. She is a vision of beauty right now, in the early morning, slim rays of light highlighting her face from the window.

Maggie is suddenly overwhelmed. Her own heart speeding up, too overcome with emotion, full, full to the bursting, with love for the woman beneath her. She turns back so her head is resting on the source of that symphony she loves so.

In this moment, Maggie just listens, believing Alex’s words from the other night, when she had finally told her about her odd heartbeat fascination.

 

_“It’s weird, I know,” Maggie says, before throwing her head into her hands and laughing at herself, embarrassed._

_“No, Maggie,” Alex starts, pulling her hands away from her face. “It’s cute. A little weird, but, in a Maggie way,” Alex tells her, ducking her head then, shy at her own admission. Maggie just watches her. She can tell she had something else to say, is wondering if she should say it. A moment later, Alex lifts her head to see Maggie staring back at her, with curious, encouraging eyes and her signature head tilt._

_Alex finds solace there and lets out, “It beats for you, you know.”_

_Maggie beams; her own heart flutters in her chest._

 

Alex says things like that all the time. Not just showing her love, but professing it. Maggie finds it so different, so much bolder than her own quiet confessions.

As she traces patterns on her bare chest, Maggie wonders if Alex knows how her own heart betrays her calm outer composure, how it has always beat wild and rattled and on edge. Maggie hopes Alex knows how her heart beats around her – slower, more confident, more sure. Maggie hopes Alex knows who her heart beats for, for whom it always has, for whom it always will.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! This is my first fic, so go easy on me
> 
> I'm @agentdvnvrs on twitter if that's what you're into


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